They really, really wanted to have it.  

So much so that Community Links originally rescheduled the 5th Annual Legacy Run to End Family Violence from its original date in April until September 27th after restrictions surrounding COVID-19 were put in place.  The group had hoped that, by that time, the rules would have been sufficiently loosened so they could go ahead with the run that serves both as a fundraiser for Community Links' domestic violence prevention programs and also as an awareness-building event to bring the focus on how family violence hurts and affects families in Airdrie and area.

In the end, the regulations to prevent the spread of the coronavirus were still too strict for an event of this nature so Community Engagement Manager with Community Links Laurie Jacob-Toews says they're going to pull the plug for 2020.

"We decided to wait as long as we could to make the decision because we really wanted to make it work, but what we decided was, that with the restrictions that are in place, obviously to protect everyone's safety, we just felt like we were going to lose the heart of our event."

The organizing committee looked at ways they could modify the event and still run it but Jacob-Toews says that would only defeat the purpose of the run.

"At the end of the day, if people can't get together and celebrate together, and if we weren't able to talk about our sponsors and we weren't able to have people be there to cheer on their friends and family, we just felt like it wasn't the event we wanted it to be."

The run featured Airdrie's only half-marathon along with a 5-K and 10-K run.  The 5-K was dedicated to the memory of Andrea Conroy, an Airdrie resident who died in a tragic domestic violence incident in 2012.  That aspect of the race is so important in itself in Jacob-Toews view that the race wouldn't have been the same.

"We know that her friends and family come and they run this race together, in her honour and memory.  Them not being able to do that, it didn't make sense this year for us.  Just being able to talk about Andrea, and share her story and why we do the run.  There are just so many of those things that are so important to us and are at the heart of the event and it just didn't make sense if we couldn't do those things."

Community Links will continue to bring light to family violence issues along with the other agencies working in that area during November, which is Family Violence Prevention Month.  

While the cancellation is disappointing to Community Links, Jacob-Toews prefers to look at it another way.  "You know for this year maybe it's best to just put it on hold and we'll just re-plan for April."

The hold date for next year is Sunday, April 18th.  

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